


i thought you were dead

by jaimelanniser



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 13:45:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12014019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaimelanniser/pseuds/jaimelanniser
Summary: gendry and arya reunite at winterfell





	i thought you were dead

“I thought you were dead.”

“I thought  _you_ were dead.”

The echoing statement fell almost flat to her ears, and Arya remained standing still, frozen in place at the doorway. He was there, strong and tall and beautiful just how she remembered him. And she was there, feeling just as small as she had the last time she’d seen him.

Gendry’s face broke out into a nervous smile and he walked closer to her, slowly approaching her like someone would a wild beast. Was that what she looked like to him? An animal out of its cage, ready to jump?

There was something going on in her chest and it felt tight, her throat felt constricted and like she wasn’t getting enough air into her lungs. It was a feeling she almost didn’t recognise, because it had been so long. But her eyes stung, and Arya was almost relieved that she could still cry.

“Arya…” he whispered, closing the distance between them, arms open as if to hug her.

The sound of skin slapping skin was deafening, but Arya didn’t flinch as Gendry’s hand came up to his reddening face, stunned. She approached him again, narrowing her eyes at him. “You  _left me_.”

“I was taken away!” he cried out defensively. “The red woman took me to use me for—“

“You — left — me,” she hissed, realising that she had whipped out Needle at some point and was holding it up to his chin. Gendry’s eyes wide as he took a step back from her, which she followed. “You abandoned me to stay with the brotherhood. You told me we couldn’t be family. You were all that I had and you walked away from me.”

Gendry had the decency to look ashamed, even as he took another step back. “I didn’t mean that, I had to—“

“I don’t care!” she snapped, letting her sword arm drop between them, swallowing against the knot in her throat. “I don’t care what you had to do. I don’t care that you’re alive—I wish you  _were_  dead so I didn’t have to think about you again.”

A flash of pain came across his face. “You don’t mean that, Arya.”

Arya sheathed her sword again and smiled, the dry, meaningless smile that had become natural to her by now. “You don’t know me anymore.” Taking a deep breath, she adjusted her features into passiveness once more; she was done being affected this way by him. “Stay away from me if you know what’s good for you.”

And following every instinct of self-preservation left in her, she pushed away the crippling emotions and walked away from him.


End file.
